Dove abiti e che cosa fai di lavoro?Where do you live and what do you do for work?

To ask for information rather than a yes or no, Italian starts the question with a question word: che cosa (what), chi (who), dove (where), quando (when), come (how), perché (why) and quanto (how much). They come first, followed by the verb.

Quick shortcut: question word + verb. Dove abiti? Chi è? Quando arrivi? Italian does not use a support verb like English do, and the voice usually falls at the end. For yes/no questions, see Questions: intonation and word order.

The main question words

Italian Meaning Example
che cosa (also cosa, che) what Che cosa mangi? (What are you eating?)
chi who Chi è quello? (Who is that?)
dove where Dove abiti? (Where do you live?)
quando when Quando arrivi? (When are you arriving?)
come how Come stai? (How are you?)
perché why Perché studi italiano? (Why are you studying Italian?)
quanto how much / how many Quanto costa? (How much does it cost?)

Che cosa, cosa and che all mean "what" and are all common: Che cosa fai?, Cosa fai?, Che fai? The short forms cosa and che are very frequent in everyday speech.

Word order after the question word

After the question word comes the verb. A noun subject normally follows the verb, so it is Dove abita Marco? rather than Dove Marco abita? A pronoun is usually left out, as in statements (see Subject pronouns):

  • Dove abiti? (Where do you live?)
  • Dove abita Marco? (Where does Marco live?)
  • Che cosa mangiano i bambini? (What are the children eating?)
  • Quando parte il treno? (When does the train leave?)

With è ("is"), dove and come shorten with an apostrophe: Dov'è la stazione? (Where is the station?), Com'è la tua casa? (What is your house like?). Chi è? (Who is it?) and Che cos'è? (What is it?) work the same way.

perché: why and because

Perché means both "why" and "because". The question and the answer use the same word, and the accent is always on the final é:

  • Perché studi italiano? (Why are you studying Italian?) Perché mi piace. (Because I like it.)

quanto: it agrees

Quanto changes like an adjective in -o when it comes before a noun. It agrees with that noun in gender and number:

Singular Plural
masculine quanto Quanto tempo hai? quanti Quanti anni hai?
feminine quanta Quanta acqua vuoi? quante Quante sorelle hai?

On its own, before a verb, it stays quanto: Quanto costa? (How much does it cost?), Quanto pesa? (How much does it weigh?). Before a vowel in è, it can shorten: Quant'è? (How much is it?).

Prepositions come first

In Italian, a preposition goes in front of the question word. It is never left at the end of the question, as it often is in English:

  • Con chi parli? (Who are you talking to? / With whom?)
  • Da dove vieni? (Where are you from?)
  • Di dove sei? (Where are you from?)
  • A che ora arrivi? (What time are you arriving?)
  • Per chi è questo regalo? (Who is this gift for?)

See Simple prepositions.

Common mistakes

  • ❌ Chi parli con? → ✅ Con chi parli? (the preposition comes first)
  • ❌ Quanto sorelle hai? → ✅ Quante sorelle hai? (quanto agrees with the noun)
  • ❌ Perchè studi italiano? → ✅ Perché studi italiano? (acute accent)
  • ❌ Che cosa tu mangi? → ✅ Che cosa mangi?

Quick check

Which question word fits?

  1. ____ ti chiami? (What is your name?)
  2. ____ abita Anna? (Where does Anna live?)
  3. ____ è quella ragazza? (Who is that girl?)
  4. ____ fratelli hai? (How many brothers do you have?)
  5. ____ non vieni? (Why aren't you coming?)
  6. ____ arriva Luca? (When does Luca arrive?)
  7. ____ vuoi da bere? (What would you like to drink?)
  8. ____ chi esci stasera? (Who are you going out with?)
Show answers
  1. Come (Come ti chiami? literally "How do you call yourself?")   2. Dove   3. Chi   4. Quanti   5. Perché   6. Quando   7. Che cosa (or Cosa)   8. Con

Key takeaways

  • Question words come first: che cosa / cosa, chi, dove, quando, come, perché, quanto.
  • After the question word comes the verb, and a noun subject follows it: Dove abita Marco?
  • Dove and come shorten before è: Dov'è…?, Com'è…?
  • Perché means both "why" and "because".
  • Quanto agrees with the noun: quanto tempo, quanta acqua, quanti anni, quante sorelle.
  • A preposition goes in front of the question word: Con chi parli?